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The Fantastic Journey
The Fantastic Journey is an American science fiction television series that was originally aired on NBC from February 3 through June 17, 1977. Premise The series concerns a family and their associates who charter a boat out into the Caribbean for a scientific expedition. After an encounter in the area of the Bermuda Triangle with an unnatural green cloud, the group find themselves shipwrecked on a mysterious uncharted island from which they are unable to escape. They encounter Varian (Jared Martin), initially disguised as an Arawak Indian, who is later revealed to be from the year 2230. A 23rd-century pacifist, musician and healer, Varian explains to the travelers that, like he and many before them, they have been caught in a space/time continuum where people from the past, present, future and from other worlds are trapped, co-existing on the island in a series of time zones. The only way home can be found in a place called "Evoland", which lies "far to the rising sun". (It was indicated in interviews of the time that Evoland was also the name of the island.) The only way to travel between timezones is via invisible gateways that instantaneously transport individuals or groups from one zone to another. In one episode "Beyond The Mountain" the group also encounters a second cloud, which has much the same effect, but which also splits the group up. After the initial pilot story, a steady group of travelers forms around Varian as de facto leader, and the series then follows this group as they travel across the many timezones of the island to find Evoland. On their way, they encounter people from different planets and times who are also trapped on the island and who have adapted to their plight in different ways. The pilot initially suggested the historical past would be explored; however, the producers of the show rapidly adopted a consistently futuristic tone during the series following pressure from the network. They also dropped three characters after the pilot as they wanted a more exotic group of travellers, hence the arrival of Liana and Willoway. Liana disappears from the last 2 episodes when Katie Saylor fell ill. Christina Hart as Gwenith with Jared Martin as Varian in An Act of Love. Although airing in a time when the nation's interest in the Bermuda Triangle, UFOsand fantasy was at a height, the show failed to last beyond the ten episodes, having been scheduled as a mid season replacement (following the failure of another fantasy series, Gemini Man) against The Waltons and Welcome Back, Kotter, both big rated family shows. There were several cast changes, with many main characters from the pilot being written out by the first episode of the series proper. The show was either pre-empted or its time-slot changed several during its short lifetime on the air. By its tenth episode, its ratings had dropped — possibly because fans couldn't find it — and it was cancelled. The script for an unproduced eleventh episode titled "Romulus" circulates on the Internet. The show continues however to have a small cultfollowing, but has never been released commercially on any home video format. Within a few months of its abrupt ending several of the production team would be producing the thematically similar Logan's Run for the Fall 1977 season. Cast ;Varian (Jared Martin) :"A man from the 23rd century possessing awesome powers". Varian generally uses a kind of crystalline "tuning fork" device called the Sonic Energizer through which he focuses his thoughts into what is described as a sonic manipulation of matter. The device is completely useless in anyone else's hands, and seems capable of a huge variety of tasks, from opening doors to disrupting electrical systems to large scale acts of destruction, as well as its apparently intended function as a diagnostic and healing device. Following the departure of Professor Paul Jordan at the end of the pilot film, Varian takes over as de facto leader to the travelers and adopts a parental role over Paul's teenage son, Scott (most notable in episodes such as "An Act of Love" and "Turnabout"). ;Scott Jordan (Ike Eisenmann) :"The 13-year-old son of a famous scientist". Scott has an excellent knowledge of Earth history and events, but is still young and has much to learn. ;Dr. Fred Walters (Carl Franklin) :"A young doctor just out of medical school" ;Liana (Katie Saylor) :"Daughter of an Atlantean father and an extraterrestrial mother", Liana possessed greater than human physical strength (due to her being born on a higher gravity planet than Earth) and telepathic/psionic skills, presumably due to her mixed heritage. Saylor left the show after the episode "Turnabout" due to illness. In the next episode "Riddles" the reason for her not being present with the group was given that she opted to stay a few days at Coriel to help the inhabitants work out their new government and would catch up with the group later. ;Dr. Jonathan Willoway (Roddy McDowall) :"Rebel scientist from the 1960s", who has a mastery of computers, robotics and scientific knowledge which is quite useful to the group. He is something of ablack sheep, reminiscent of Dr Smith in Lost in Space. However over the course of the episodes, Willoway becomes more integrated into the group. ;Sil-El (The Felix Team) :Liana's companion and pet, a cat with which she can communicate telepathically, sometimes scouts for Liana, acting as an extra set of eyes and ears. Episode list Category:1977 sci-fi television series debuts Category:1977 sci-fi television series endings